RealGM Wiretap

Stern Expects NBA To Begin HGH Blood Testing By Next Season

Feb 6, 2013 4:46 PM

David Stern expects the NBA to adopt blood testing for HGH by the start of the 13-14 season.

“We watch what’s going on in baseball, we watch the negotiations that are going in with football, and it is my expectation that by next season [we] will be doing blood testing for HGH,” Stern told WCCO radio in Minnesota. “Our players have been terrific. They lead this in some ways, saying, ‘ We do not want to have anything less than the best.’ That’s been the way it’s been since 1983.”

Stern said Wednesday that testing hadn’t been implemented to this point because “there hasn’t been a favored testing protocol yet” and stated that he didn’t believe the NBA has a serious problem with HGH, which is on the league’s list of banned substances.

“If I say I don’t have a concern, everyone says I’m a Pollyanna,” Stern said. “I don’t have any reason to know one way or another. My guess is and my hope is that it’s not widely used in the NBA.”